Hi guys,
i would like to model some North East Corridor trains of the 1950´s, my question is, it is prototypically to mix streamline and heavywight equipment of Pennsylvania, New York Central and New Haven in passenger trains…?
Thanks and merry christmas, Michael
Merry Christmas, Now i’m not an expert on passenger trains but my opnion is that roads did mix stream line and heavy weights in their trains back then, and from what I’ve heard here on the forum, but never noticed personally that some roads did use others passenger equipement. Now I had a Pacific loco given to me as a gift a couple of years ago in the Atlantic Coast Line livery. I purchased a four car passenger consist for it and an REA express car. I want to add a few more cars to it but the only cars I can find now are in ACL purple paint scheme and my original cars are pulman green. I just don’t want to mix them together but my have to if I want a larger train. Ken
If by “Northeast Corridor” you are referring to the Boston-New York-Washington line, New York Central equipment would not be seen here. The NEC line was New Haven from New York to Boston and Pennsylvania from New York to Washington. Equipment would be primarily Pennsy. PRR stuff would run through to Boston on trains from south of New York and entire trains of lines from south of Washington would run to New York, such as trains from Florida.
The only potential for running New York Central equipment on the Pennsy’s NEC line would by trains running to Philadelphia for the annual Army-Navy football game. Three or four trains (E8’s and heavyweight coaches) would run from the US Military Academy at West Point, NY, on the NYC West Shore line to the stadium in Philadelphia. Access to the stadium is via a PRR branch in Philadelphia, but I do not know what route the NYC trains took from the southern end of the West Shore line in Weehawken, NJ, to Philadelphia…it could have been on the Pennsy.
Mixing Pensy and New Haven equipment definetly, New York Central on the PRR in the 50’s if it ever happened would be rare. The PRR would forward some New Haven trains to Washington DC and I belive the New Haven forwaded some PRR trains to Boston.
Also the PRR handled some New York City to Florida trains such as the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, and the Champions. On the Florida trains in the winter you could find equipment from many different railroads such as - PRR, Seaboard Air Line, Atlantic Coast Line, Florida East Coast,Southern Railway, R F & P, Great Northern, UP, Nickle Plate Road, and the Pullman Pool cars.
The Pennsy as I recall at about this time repainted some of their heavy weight passenger fleet to give it a modern appearance and to blend in the older equipment with the newer light weight cars. Pullman equipment at this point owned by the rail roads would be from all over especially in the Boston to Florida trade. There was more in transition at this time than just steam to diesel.
Will
NH and PRR coaches, diners, parlors could be found on each others trackage - NH trains could also have CN, B&M, ACL, and other roads sleepers and cars too. There’s no limiting really - though NYC didn’t seem to turn up on NH trains.
Mail and express is even better - there are pictures of baggage and express cars from almost every RR in the US on NH tracks.
There are some exceptions. Mail and Express (M&E) trains could have alomst any car from any road and did. The PRR tried transcontinental tarffic and painted some cars for UP, ATSF, T&P, MOPAC and has a sleeper that was part of the California Zephyr. As stated New Haven cars went to DC and PRR to Boston no6tably on the Senator and others trains. I doubt the trains to the Army Navy game used E units. Most likley they received GG1’s at the first possible point. I have never seen a picture of anything but G’s at the stadium in Philly.
I recall hearing about the “General” which ran North and South in central Maryland that was quite colorful with all the sleepers being forwarded to different cities in the deep south. But it was not on the NEC.